Let’s talk about what it means to work Across Boundaries…. because the reality is that it can mean many things to many people. In my world, working across boundaries is about lateral thinking… really comprehending that you are a single piece of a much larger puzzle and that your piece has a significant impact on the larger whole. It also means having the capacity to move across those boundaries to absorb knowledge from one context or discipline and apply it back into your area of expertise to create a free-flow of information – increasing your knowledge and the potential to “create a better mousetrap”. Think Leonardo DaVinci:

Working across boundaries, more than anything else, means working together to solve problems that cannot be solved ~ or easily solved ~ by a single person, department or business unit. It is critical that you, as a leader, consider (and learn from) the overall system and expect every person across every department to work together to figure out how to improve the overall experience for customers both internally and externally – the rest will naturally follow. The reality (whether you want to acknowledge it or not) is that you are part of a system… a network… an interconnected structure involving many people and multiple linkages. Without each component part of the whole, there is little to offer the customer… or the market.

Despite the necessity of collaboration, organizations are complex – engaging across boundaries can present several challenges. Because Networks are inter-organizational, cross-departmental and interpersonal, different stakeholders across that network have differing:

Points of view (by default)

objectives and missions

micro-cultures and perspectives

methods of operation – purpose, policies, procedures and systems.

financial models (i.e. cost centers versus profit centers)

degrees of power

challenges/opportunities

decision-making capacities

Sources of conflict within network and with the customer

Despite the challenges, continually improving organizational performance is what matters and that can only happen with collaboration across both horizontal and vertical boundaries. It is critical for your company to get everyone working together in order to “build that better mousetrap”. We all know how important it is to work effectively across organizational boundaries, however multi-functional, multi-cultural, multi-level teamwork is unnatural. The innate tendency of organizations is to optimize within a business unit or department rather than understanding that every aspect of the company is part of a living system and optimizing for the global customer experience or enterprise acceleration. Too often, the sum of the parts doesn’t create a high-performing whole. Getting people to collaborate and learn from one another across boundaries typically requires a crisis… or aggressive edicts from organizational leadership (which can also backfire if not delivered appropriately).

Suppose for a moment you are the Chief Operations Officer of a multinational company and you want to improve the experience of customers worldwide, while also reducing the cost of overall operations. Who do you need to involve in improving the process?

Product Development creates the product…

Operations produces it…

Sales sells it…

Legal reviews it and creates the contracts…

Implementation Management implements it…

Customer Relations maintains the relationship after the sale…

Finance invoices and tracks financial progress…

BUT the customer will ultimately pay for the product and decide if you are a good partner overall.

In a typical scenario, each department is a separate business with its own objectives, business practices, culture, and information systems. However, without all the component parts coming together to deliver the product or service, there is nothing to offer the market. As a leader facilitating people working effectively across boundaries you need to understand, accommodate and help people understand that:

Departments and their people have ongoing, critical inter-dependencies that require cross-boundary interactions on a regular basis

It is natural that every department or business unit will have both common and competing goals – they must find common ground and “third best ways” of operating for organizational and customer benefit

As part of an integrated workplace, your people work in an elastic environment – groups will expand and contract as needed

Members need to be both participative and authoritative, depending on the circumstance

People need to see both the forest and the trees – understanding the system as a whole is critical, but they also must consider the people and components within the system in order to be successful

They must balance advocacy and inquiry, again depending on circumstance

If your organization truly wants to maximize shareholder value (and be around in another 10 years), continually working across boundaries to improve organizational results and the customer experience is the answer – which will drive competitive advantage, revenue and contract viability.

With the inherent challenges (and opportunities) that come with working across boundaries:

How can you, as a leader, leverage a multi-functional, multi-level, multi-cultural network of people to optimize overall operations… rather than optimizing each business units objectives?

How can you create an environment that embraces the objective of cost reduction, while at the same time “thrilling” the customer?

And how do you do this when changes to the system may create winners and losers – internally and externally?

Leonardo da Vinci once said:

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

He was right. Taking action is critical to enhancing operations and elevating the customer experience. Every single BU has the capacity to see through “new eyes” and gain new perspective by working within the system, as opposed to working only within its own boundaries. Remember – Arms, Wings, Flying Machines… the possibilities are endless!

Please engage the discussion and let us know how you view working across boundaries.

Stay tuned – we will discuss the answers to these questions!

Have questions or need an expert to help you in your global organization? Contact me at SheriLMackey@gmail.com.

A separate, but inter-related key to success from last weeks post lies with YOU – the leader as a resource. In today’s complex global business environment, the leader is the driving force and the magnet that draws people in – someone who has the ability to lead, connect, and (most importantly) to ignite a fire within the global workforce that will result in invaluable contributions that will drive personal development and organizational success to levels never anticipated or previously dreamed of. You are a key resource to the organization, and as such, you need to understand that how you allow yourself to be leveraged as a resource directly correlates with the success of your global teams and organization.

How people perceive you – your words and actions – will define you across the globe. How you relate to people, from all cultures and functions, will determine to a large extent, your ability to succeed. Do people from across the wider organization see you as an inspiration? Someone to follow, someone to believe in, someone to trust? Are you a partner? Does your global team perceive that they are a critical component to your vision and direction? Our research tells us over and over again, that people follow those they trust and those they are inspired by.

In today’s ever-changing business environment, you need to become even more than a known entity and an inspiration. You must become the social architect, constitution writer, and entrepreneur of meaning – in both thought and action. To secure global success as a leader, you must be willing to create an environment where every employee, from every culture and geography, has the opportunity to collaborate, innovate, and excel. Do this and you will have, not only global business success, but the undying loyalty of your workforce (a true rarity in today’s work environment).

Many centuries ago, Lau-Tzu said, “The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’ People embrace what they feel a part of – YOU are a global resource for inspiration and inclusionary practices. YOU have the ability to do great things through your global organization, if YOU are actually maximizing ALL your resources…including yourself.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at SheriLMackey@gmail.com. Check back next week for a new post on global leadership!

Welcome back to Leadership Across Boundaries & Borders! I can be reasonably sure, most of you would tell me that you are efficiently managing your resources – cutting costs, increasing productivity, etc. – all good and honorable duties respectable leaders are expected to perform. However, For the next several weeks I will be discussing resource maximization of a specific type – Human Resources… People Potential – and your ability to leverage your resources across the organization and across the globe for all-encompassing corporate and interpersonal success.

Many of us like to believe that, with a good plan, we can direct an action, change a process, standardize the business, etc., but if that is all you are focused on, your likely percentage of success is very low. The reality of any business situation is that you need people to DO something in order for your plan/action/change/etc. to succeed. How, in a globally dispersed environment, you inspire employees to bring their talents, initiative, imagination, and passion to work every day is the very delineation between success and failure. It may seem like a lofty concept, but it is absolutely essential to your long-term success – first and foremost, never forget PEOPLE are absolutely essential to your success. Continue Reading…

This past week, I found myself in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. I went with the idea that I would relax and enjoy the long holiday weekend… and I did. However, as I observed a forest with both old and new growth, I also could not help notice the trees ravaged by sickness and fire. I found myself thinking about what the forest has to teach us about business…

The forest is a global entity made up of individual components with very different characteristics, yet at the same time is very interdependent upon one another. In business, the term “Think Global/Act Local” was originally based on the idea of customizing standardized products and services for regional consumption in accordance with the local language, currency, culture and regulatory climate. The challenge arose as we lost sight of our interdependence as a global entity. Not surprisingly, localization encourages each country of operation to develop its own customized solutions and operational procedures. This results in data silos around the world and companies operating with huge information blind spots across the spectrum – the forest can not thrive as it should. It can take weeks, even months, to collect, reconcile, translate and analyze regional performance – much less consolidate a global view of the corporate picture. As I looked around and considered this, it occurred to me that if global is seeing the forest, then local is tending the trees. With only a view of the forest as a whole, it is possible to overlook the trees that need attention. Up close, it is easy to focus on the detailed care of each tree, but lose sight of its contribution to the overall forest. Balancing both viewpoints is critical to keeping the trees in the forest healthy. Global corporations are like a forest – a sum of its parts – consistent, meaningful and effective local practices must contribute to the success of the whole. Continue Reading…

I realize I have not written much over the past year due to increasing business demands, as well as making the recent decision to sell our business, Luminosity Global Consulting Group. Given my incredible expedition so far, I am so excited to see and experience what comes next…

Over eight years ago, we launched Luminosity Global with the idea that we would enable executives to move toward their impossible future, while optimizing their people, process and programs on a global scale. Approximately one year ago, we were fortunate enough to have a corporate entity approach us and offer to acquire The Global LABB, our proprietary leadership platform built for Luminosity clients. Now, another year has passed and once again, we have had an amazing offer to purchase our consulting group.

As a result, I am excited to explore new opportunities and potentially move back into corporate life. While I have absolutely loved conceptualizing and seeing Luminosity grow into an incredible entity of its own, this is an amazing opportunity to pursue a new path in my career – one that will enable me to make a lasting impact on people, process and programs from a very targeted perspective. I am so incredibly excited to move into the next phase of my professional life… to see what adventure lies ahead. I feel so fortunate to have had the remarkable experiences I have had, yet I can feel the pull to move toward my own impossible future!

To each of you – never be afraid to change direction in unexpected way and go forward in the expectation that you can always become an even better version of yourself – if you give yourself the opportunity to do so!

I will continue to blog, as time permits, as I truly enjoy sharing my thoughts and insights with each of you – as well as receiving your questions and comments. Please continue to reach out with any questions or comments you may have. You can always contact me through Leadership Across Boundaries and Borders, as well as at sheri@sherimackey.com and I will always respond in kind.

I was in a meeting with a senior executive recently, when he shared his concern that the processes and approaches the company is using to develop the corporate strategy may not take the business forward as planned, but backward. As we discussed his challenges, there were some key gaps that the organization was likely to fall into that could easily be avoided with a strong planning process. So, here are a few of the more prominent reasons organizations fall into the strategic planning gap…How many of these are evident in your business?

Reason Number 1: Lack of leadership engagement

One important reason behind a company’s inability to create a visible and viable strategy is that, frequently, key senior leaders are not appropriately engaged in the development process. This frequently means that critical success factors are not considered, priorities are unclear, and incomplete strategies are developed. Leaders must immerse themselves in the process to understand how the gears of the business engage – how their domain aligns to and fits with the other critical pieces within the corporation. Critical insights and knowledgeable contributions regarding all aspects of the business will provide the pivot point for the strategic planning process – key decisions emerge from a compilation and understanding of leader’s perspectives. Companies often believe that strategic plans can be developed in one or two day strategic planning sessions – this is simply not true. Strategic planning is a dedicated process that is developed over a period of time with all senior leaders engaged and participating – not to mention, an ongoing process that drives the ability to stay ahead of the competition. Without a strong process for engaging leaders and formulating strategic plans as a unit, companies often end up with plans that are meaningless from a strategic point of view.